Every Steven Spielberg Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best

Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the most influential living filmmakers—and possibly of all time. His breakthrough film Jaws completely changed the way movies are made (and released), as he singlehandedly created the summer blockbuster. And while he has made his fair share of blockbuster movies, his thoughtful, serious dramas are on par with his more populist works. Here's a look back at his filmography, ranked from worst to best.

DreamWorks Pictures

32. The Terminal (2004)

Viktor Navorski's home country collapses amid a civil war just before he arrives in New York, leaving his passport invalid. Once he's a citizen of no country, he's forced to live at JFK. If you love airports and duty-free shops, this movie is for you.

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Universal Pictures

31. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

If there's one thing Hollywood loves, it's milking a franchise until it's dead. Even Spielberg himself isn't immune to taking on a bad sequel, and The Lost World is proof that the great director can indeed deliver a misfire.

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Paramount Pictures

30. Indiana Jones and the Kingom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

By far the weakest link in the Indiana Jones franchise, this one starred a 66-year-old Harrison Ford as the titular character fight ing Soviets who are on the hunt for extraterrestrial crystal skulls.

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Universal Pictures

29. 1941 (1979)

This madcap comedy about the infamous (and mysterious) Battle of Los Angeles following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor features an ensemble cast of comedy titans including Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Candy, and John Belushi.

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Warner Bros.

28. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Spielberg's instalment in this sci-fi / horror anthology sees the elderly residents of Sunnyvale Retirement Home revisiting their childhood—experiencing the joy of youth, as well as its burdens—when a mysterious resident named Mr. Bloom moves in.

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Universal Pictures

27. Always (1989)

Richard Dreyfuss stars as an aerial firefighter who, after getting killed on the job, returns as a spirit to mentor another young pilot (Brad Johnson). The plot gets complicated when the younger pilot falls for the elder pilot's widow (played by Holly Hunter).

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Paramount Pictures

26. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

The beloved Belgian boy-hero gets the big-screen treatment in this motion-capture film, with Jamie Bell as the adventurous roving reporter who seeks out on a hunt for a lost, sunken ship with the help of a cantankerous sea captain. Rent/buy on Amazon and iTunes.

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Touchstone Pictures

25. The BFG (2016)

Oscar-winner Mark Rylance steps into the role of Roald Dahl's big, friendly giant, proving that he can perfectly disappear into any performance (especially if he's playing a computer-generated character).

Perhaps one of the most non-traditional war epics, War Horse examines World War I through the eyes of a Thoroughbred horse who joins the ranks of the British army.

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Universal Pictures

22. The Surgarland Express (1974)

Spielberg make his theatrical feature debut with this crime drama that stars Goldie Hawn as a woman that helps her husband escape from jail in order to spring their son out of foster care. It is an impressive first feature, which announced a major cinematic talent.

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Paramount Pictures

21. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Temple of Doom has the notorious distinction of being so bloody and scary that it basically initiated the creation of the American PG-13 rating. It also has the notorious distinction of being, well, pretty racist. It really does not hold up.

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Warner Bros.

20. Empire of the Sun (1987)

Christian Bale's breakthrough performance is the shining light of this war drama, in which an upper-class British boy living in Shanghai sees his life turned upside-down during the Japanese occupation in World War II.

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DreamWorks Pictures

19. Amistad (1997)

This historical drama follows the slave uprising on the ship La Amistad and the subsequent legal battle that ensued once the Mende tribesmen were captured by an American ship.

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TriStar Pictures

18. Hook (1991)

The boy who would never grow up did, in fact, grow up—at least that's what Hook presupposes. Robin Williams plays an uptight, workaholic corporate lawyer whose children are kidnapped by a long-lost enemy: Captain James Hook (Dustin Hoffman).

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Universal Pictures

17. Duel (1971)

This TV movie marked Spielberg's directorial debut—one so successful that it received a theatrical release. It follows a traveling salesman who is stalked on a two-lane desert highway by an unseen driver manning a tanker truck.

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Warner Bros.

16. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Spielberg infamously took on this film project from Stanley Kubrick following the acclaimed auteur's death in 1999. The result is a Spielberg-Kubrick fusion: a Pinocchio-inspired morality tale about a child robot.

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20th Century Fox

15. The Post (2017)

Spielberg's timely political drama looks back at Washington Post publisher Kay Graham and editor Ben Bradlee as they prepare to go up against the Nixon White House to publish the infamous Pentagon Papers in 1971.

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20th Century Fox

14. Minority Report (2002)

Set in the distant future, a specialised police force known as the PreCrime unit arrests criminals before they can commit their illegal acts. When the head of the unit is identified as a possible criminal, however, he must outsmart his colleagues as he searches for the truth.

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DreamWorks Pictures

13. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Leonardo DiCaprio dazzles in this comic caper about the real-life Frank Abagnale—a professional con man who poses as a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a prosecutor—and the beleaguered FBI agent who is desperate to apprehend him.

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Touchstone Pictures

12. Bridge of Spies (2015)

Mark Rylance won an Oscar for playing a KGB spy who is traded for an American pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union in Spielberg's slightly slow—but handsomely filmed—Cold War drama.

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Universal Pictures

11. Munich (2005)

Eric Bana stars as a Mossad agent chosen to lead Operation Wrath of God, an assassination mission targeting the Palestine Liberation Organisation's massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics, in this complex morality play disguised as a political thriller.

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Paramount Pictures

10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

In his third outing, Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones once again battles Nazis on his quest to find his father (played by Sean Connery), who has disappeared on an archeological quest for the Holy Grail.

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Touchstone Pictures

9. Lincoln (2012)

Spielberg's Lincoln is a feast for his fans and history buffs alike that features an incredible performance from Daniel Day-Lewis (who earned his third Oscar for his portrayal of the 16th president)—as well as a starry ensemble of supporting players.

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Warner Bros.

8. The Color Purple (1985)

Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel served as material for Spielberg's first serious drama, which saw both Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey making their film debuts (and earning Oscar nominations for their performances).

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DreamWorks Pictures

7. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Spielberg's epic depicts the extremities of war, offering a brutal and violent depiction of the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day in 1944.

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Columbia Pictures

6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss reteam for this celestial drama in which everyday Americans see their lives changed after UFO sightings, which earned Spielberg his first Oscar nomination for Best Director.

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Universal Pictures

5. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Spielberg essentially created the cuddly-alien-bonds-with-human-boy genre with this iconic and acclaimed blockbuster about a creature who is very, very far away from home.

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Paramount Pictures

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Spielberg joined forces with George Lucas to launch one of the greatest action-adventure franchises in film history, with Harrison Ford's first outing as Indiana Jones remaining the series' best instalment.

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Universal Pictures

3. Jaws (1975)

Spielberg's big break came from this scrappy film production that would go on to be a box office behemoth and change Hollywood—and movie-making at large—forever.

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